Smoke and Ashes
By Nancy F. Thysell (the Nifty Lady)
A-Shift’s firefighter paramedic John "Johnny" Gage was running late, again. He pulled his Land Rover into Station 51’s driveway and gunned the engine to the back parking lot. He quickly parked, jumped out and grabbed his uniforms from the back hook and made a mad dash for the locker room. It only half way registered in his head that he hadn’t seen his partner, Roy DeSoto’s car. A worried thought crossed his mind, Boy, I sure hope Roy isn’t out today. I couldn’t handle Brice today.
He was dressed in minutes and gave Smokey his ritual thump and closed the locker door. He glanced at his watch. Two minutes to eight and no Roy. He frowned and decided he had better find out what was up. The Cap would probably know. He entered the vehicle bay as Captain Hank Stanley announced roll call. Johnny fell in line next to Marco Lopez, Chet Kelly and the engineer, Mike Stoker. Captain Stanley surveyed his men, frowning at the absence of one.
"Where’s DeSoto?" he asked, looking at Johnny. Johnny squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze and shrugged his shoulders.
"Dunno, Cap," Johnny answered honestly. Stanley frowned again. This wasn’t like his senior paramedic to be late. Suddenly the klaxon sounded.
"Station 51, MVA Corner of Riverside Drive and Lankershim Blvd. Corner of Riverside Drive and Lankershim. Time out 08:02."
"Johnny check the day room and see if Dwyer’s still here," Stanley ordered as the other firefighters scrambled to the engine, while Stanley went to acknowledge the call.
Johnny hustled into the day room. He found Charlie Dwyer, one of C-Shift’s paramedics, on the sofa with the station’s Basset Hound mascot, Henry, enjoying a cup of coffee. Fortunately his was still in his uniform. He looked up as Johnny entered.
"Dwyer! We got a call and Roy’s not here. Come on!" Johnny urged. Dwyer jumped up and ran to the squad with Johnny. Out of habit, Dwyer jumped in the driver’s seat and Johnny took the passenger’s seat.
"Station 51. KMG365." Stanley spoke into the mike as Dwyer started the engine on the squad. He handed the address to Dwyer who passed it on Johnny and they pulled out into the morning traffic with Engine 51 close behind.
The accident had involved six vehicles. A delivery van’s brakes failed and had plowed into the intersection creating a chain reaction with the other five cars. Mayhem was the general description of the scene. Three police cars surrounded the accident and the officers had control of the area. Both Johnny and Dwyer inwardly groaned as they viewed the carnage. This was going to be a major call. Captain Stanley also took in the scene and picked up his mike.
"LA. Dispatch another squad to our location. I estimate eight to ten victims. Respond at least three ambulances."
Johnny and Dwyer grabbed their gear as Marco and Chet began checking for gas leaks and disconnecting car batteries.
Johnny jogged over to the closest sedan that had an uniformed officer crouched in the opened door. As Johnny approached, the officer turned his head, and he recognized him to be Officer Vince Howard.
"Am I glad to see you!" Vince exclaimed.
"What do you have?" Johnny could just see the female driver over Vince’s shoulder. He could make out that someone else was in the front seat as well.
"Johnny?" Roy DeSoto’s head popped up from the other side of the woman.
"Roy? What..." He was shocked at the amount of blood covering his partner.
"She’s got a severed artery in her right leg. I’ve got it," Roy informed his partner. Johnny and Vince then exchanged places, carefully supporting the unconscious victim.
"Vince would you set up the bio-phone for me?" Johnny asked as he began taking the woman’s vitals. He gave Roy a worried glance. His partner’s face was pale and beads of perspiration covered his forehead.
"How long?" he asked as he began taking the woman’s BP.
"About twenty minutes, I think. My hands are starting to cramp," Roy replied quietly.
Johnny had Vince relay the vitals to Rampart. He placed a c-collar around the woman’s neck. As he began the IV he looked at Roy again. "Are you okay? Are you injured?" he asked with concern.
Roy shook his head. "No, I was lucky. It happened right in front of me. Couldn’t believe it!" He leaned down and wiped his forehead on the upper sleeve of his shirt.
"Johnny, the ambulance is here," Captain Stanley said from behind the paramedic. "What do you need?"
"The backboard, Cap."
"You got it." He returned in a moment with the backboard. It wasn’t going to be easy moving the woman without Roy losing his grip on her artery. Slowly, they maneuvered and carefully extricated her from the car with Roy in tow. Stanley was stunned when he saw Roy emerge from the car.
"Roy?" he asked uncertainly.
Roy gave him a quick glance and nodded slightly, keeping his concentration on his patient. He knew that he was literally holding her life in his hands. The men set the woman on the stretcher and hurried her to the awaiting ambulance. Both Roy and Johnny climbed into the back. As the ambulance sped away, Captain Stanley turned back to the scene in front of him. There was still a lot to do. Chet and Marco were both hosing down the gas leaks. Squad 36 had arrived and was treating other victims. Stanley noted with sadness that there were two bodies covered with blankets. He sighed heavily. It would be hours before this mess was cleaned up.
###
Nurse Dixie McCall and Dr. Kelly Brackett met the ambulance and escorted them to treatment room two. A trauma team was assembled and waiting. The room came alive with organized chaos as each team member set about taking care of the critically injured woman. When one of the nurses tried to take over for Roy, he found he couldn’t release his grip. His fingers had cramped tightly. Even though it only took a minute, it seemed to take an eternity before the transition could be made. Roy staggered back from the exam table, his arms shaking uncontrollably. Johnny was at his side immediately and guided him from the room. Their part of the rescue was over.
He led his partner down the hall and into the staff lounge, seating him at the table. Roy leaned his arms on the table and took his head in his hands. The Adrenaline rush was easing off. His fingers ached from immobility. He opened and closed them, trying to restore the circulation.
"Roy, I’m going to see if I can find you something to change into," Johnny told him. For the first time, Roy looked at himself. The clothes he had put on that morning were covered in blood. He hadn’t even noticed.
"Thanks, Junior," he whispered.
In a few minutes, Johnny returned with some scrubs and Roy headed to the employee’s shower. Johnny watched with concerned as Roy made his way down the hall. He just wanted to be sure his partner was really okay.
The Emergency doors flung open and Dwyer arrived with his patient. Dr. Mike Morton hurried them into Treatment Three.
Johnny went down to the base station and was pouring himself a cup of coffee when Dixie came out of room two. He nodded to her over the rim of his cup. Dixie looked tired. Before Johnny could ask her about their patient, the base station phone rang. A moment later, he heard Dixie page for Dr. Joe Early.
Another ambulance arrived with unattended victims from the crash. Johnny watched as the ETM’s guided their stretchers into Treatment Four. Then the team from Treatment Two rushed the gurney down the hall to the elevator on the their way to the OR. At least she still alive, Johnny thought, thankfully.
Dr. Brackett rushed into the next treatment room. He was going to be terribly busy this morning. Dr. Early entered the base station and took over the call. Roy came down the hall, looking much better now that he was dressed in the surgical scrubs. Dixie rushed past him on her way to get Treatment One ready for the next patient. Johnny offered his partner a cup of coffee, which he accepted gratefully.
"You look a lot better, Pally," Johnny commented as Roy sipped the hot brew.
Roy just rolled his eyes before he made himself ask, "Any word on her?"
"They just took her up to the OR. Haven’t talked to Brackett. He’s been kinda busy."
Dwyer came out of the treatment room and joined them at the base station.
"Roy! What happened to you?" Dwyer hadn’t been aware that Roy had been on the scene. Roy filled him in briefly. Dwyer nodded in amazement.
"Man, if you hadn’t been on the scene, she would have bleed to death!" he said solemnly.
"At least now, she has a chance," Roy responded.
Johnny’s handi-talkie crackled to life. "Squad 51, what is your status?"
"Squad 51 available."
"Engine 51 requests you return to the scene."
"10-4." The three men hurried down the hall to the squad and after a moment of indecision as to whom should drive; finally Dwyer took the wheel as Roy was out of uniform. Johnny slid into the middle of the bench as Roy followed him on the passenger’s side. They pulled away from the Emergency entrance with lights and sirens.
###
Back at the traffic scene, Captain Stanley had Chet, Marco and Mike dealing with the remaining victims, performing first aid. Most of the injuries that remained were not serious, but Captain Stanley wanted his paramedics back on the scene, just in case. More than once he had seen someone, seemingly unhurt, suddenly go sour. The police investigators were on the scene, trying to determine the cause. Tow trucks had arrived and had begun to hook up to the wrecked vehicles. As the Cap surveyed the scene, he noticed Roy’s sport’s car parked in the traffic lane, obviously where he had abandoned it to render aid. He noticed an officer looking at Roy’s car as well, as if he was going to cite him. Stanley headed over to the officer. He looked up at the Captain’s approach.
"Can I help you, Captain?" Officer Mathews asked.
"Yeah. That vehicle belongs to one of my paramedics," the Cap explained. "He was here when the accident happened. He went to the aid of one of the critically injured. He’ll be back here in a few minutes."
"I understand, Captain, but we need to get this vehicle moved. It’s blocking traffic." The Captain turned and waved his crew over. The men jogged over.
"Guys, we need to move Roy’s car out of the way here. Mike, you steer and we’ll push." The tall engineer slid behind the wheel and released the brake and put the vehicle in neutral. The Cap, Marco and Chet positioned themselves at the rear of the vehicle and began pushing as Mike steered the car to the curb.
The squad arrived a few minutes later. Dwyer and Johnny headed over to the victims sitting on the curb to see to their injuries. Roy walked over to his Captain.
"Sorry about being late today," he tried to joke. Cap just smiled.
"No problem, Roy. I know you had your hands full," he punned. Roy groaned.
"Now that’s something I would have expected from Chet!" Roy looked over at Dwyer and Johnny. Stanley followed his gaze.
"Looks like Johnny and Dwyer can handle things here," the Cap remarked. "Why don’t you head on to the station and get changed?"
"Sure thing, Cap. Thanks." Roy headed for his car. He felt extremely tired. He waved at his coworkers as he pulled away from the curb. He hoped that this wasn’t indicative of the rest of the shift.
###
An hour later the squad and engine returned to the station. Dwyer eagerly jumped from the squad to make his getaway. The extra hours on top of his 24-hour shift were a whole lot more than he had bargained for.
"Thanks, Dwyer," Johnny yelled at the retreating paramedic. He entered the day room and found Roy cooking at the stove. He leaned over and peered at the concoction, breathing in the aroma deeply.
"Hey Roy that smells great! What is it?"
"Sloppy Joes. They’ll be ready in a minute. Why don’t you make yourself useful and set the table?"
Johnny feigned hurt feelings. "Useful! When am I NOT useful."
Roy rolled his eyes. "Don’t get me started, Junior."
Johnny started to reply as the rest of the crew came into the room. They settled down to eat their meal. The phone rang before they finished eating. Marco was the closest to the phone so he ran to answer it.
"LA County Fire station 51. Lopez speaking...Sure thing!" he put his hand over the mouthpiece. "Roy it’s Rampart for you."
Roy had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he hurried to take the phone from Marco. Curious, Johnny followed Roy to the phone.
"Hello? Hi Dix." He looked over at Johnny as he listened. "Thanks for letting me know...Yeah, we’ll probably see you later." Roy’s face was a mixture of relief and concern.
"What? What happened?" Johnny wanted to know.
"Our patient, her name is Pam Harris. They had to amputate her leg."
"Oh, man. That’s awful. So, she’s going to make it?"
Roy nodded. "Dixie said she has a 50-50 chance. They’ll know more tomorrow."
Johnny slapped his partner on the back. "Well that’s good news!"
"I hope so." Roy couldn’t imagine what it would be like to wake up and learn that one of your limbs was gone. He really felt bad for the woman. Yet, he was extremely glad that she was still alive. He clenched his hands into fists and released them again. It was as if he could still feel the tension in them from that morning.
"Let’s go check out the supplies," he suggested to Johnny, his appetite for food gone.
"Be there in minute. Just want to finish my lunch." He grinned crookedly at Roy and headed back to the table.
"Uh, Roy, stay here a minute, would you?" the Cap asked. Roy returned to the table.
"Since we missed out on assignments at roll call I’d like to take care of that now. Chet, Marco, I need you to hang hose. Mike you have the apparatus bay. Roy since you started in here, I’ll let you finish in here. Johnny you get the dorm and the latrine."
Johnny’s mouth fell open, full of food. "What?" Then he swallowed hard. He started to complain but the look on the Captain’s face told him that he better leave things well enough alone. The Cap excused himself from the table and headed to his office to start on his paperwork. The rest of the crew dispersed to their assigned tasks.
###
The afternoon passed fairly quietly. The squad was sent on a couple of runs that didn’t amount to much. The engine crew responded to a car fire on the interstate. They even managed to eat dinner without getting called out. Roy settled onto the sofa with Henry to do a little reading. The rest of the guys found themselves in front of the TV.
###
Not far away, a group of about ten teenagers were just revving up for a night out. They had just spent the afternoon performing a service project that involved cleaning, repairing, mowing, and planting for an elderly woman’s house. Now they were ready to party. Jim Anderson, the youth’s leader, had invited the entire group to his home. The group was having a pretty good time when it was suggested that they go out for pizza. Jim’s sixteen-year-old son Brad, his fifteen-year-old daughter Susan and Brad’s best friend Jack Patterson, also sixteen, decided that they were too tired to go out. Instead they opted to hit the sack. Jim and his wife, Elaine, decided that it would be okay to leave them since Elaine’s mother was there in her room. So as the group head off for pizza, Brad, Susan and Jack got ready for bed.
Twenty minutes later, a cigarette that had been smoldering in a sofa cushion, ignited into a bright orange flame, licking greedily at the fabric surrounding it. Quickly the flame danced across the sofa and leapt to the side table. In a matter of minutes the room became an inferno,
Susan awoke coughing. She couldn’t understand why. The room was dark. She sat up in bed and swung her legs over the side. She looked towards the door. The light under the door seemed awfully bright. She smelled smoke! Smoke! Alarmed, she jumped up and ran to the door and opened it. She was knocked back by the heat. Smoke was rising in the hall. Susan placed her arm across her face and ran across the hall to her brother’s room and pounded on the door.
"Brad! Brad wake up! The house is on fire!" she screamed. She ran to her grandmother’s room and banged on her door warning her of the fire as well. She turned around as Brad opened his door. He looked at her with sleepy eyes.
"What’s going on?"
Susan ran back to him and grabbed his shoulders. "The house! It’s on fire! We’ve got to get out of here!" She was becoming hysterical. Brad turned and looked down the hall towards the stairs. Despite the thickening of the smoke, instinctively, he knew that the stairs wouldn’t be an option. He stepped back in his room and yelled to his friend.
"Jack! Get up! The house is on fire! Come on!" He thought he saw Jack sit up. "We need to get to my parent’s room! Come on!"
Susan was choking on the smoke. Panic etched her features. "Go to mom and dad’s room! Call the fire department!" Brad ordered and pointed down the hall. Susan stared back at him in fear. "Now!" he screamed. Finally she comprehended and ran for their parent’s bedroom. He turned and yelled to Jack once more and ran down to his grandmother’s room. He opened the door and entered her room. Smoke rolled into the room behind him and he fell to his knees, feeling his way to the bed. He was choking on the smoke now and coughing. He reached the bed and felt around for his grandmother. He couldn’t feel her on the bed. He covered his mouth with his pajama top and made his way back to the hall and felt his way down the hall to his parent’s room.
Susan had gone into the master bedroom and brought out a couple of hand towels that she had soaked with water.
"Where’s Jack?" Brad panicked as he looked for his friend.
"I don’t know. Where’s Grandma?"
"I couldn’t find her. Maybe she’s downstairs?" he said hopefully.
Susan shook her head. "She went to bed before we did. Oh Brad!" She began to cry. Brad put his arm around his sister’s shoulders and tried to comfort her.
"Did you try and call the fire department?" he asked, trying to keep the panic he felt from taking over. Susan nodded a sooty face into his chest. They could both feel the heat of the fire through the floor.
"We’ve got to get out of here, Susan!" Brad told her. She nodded in agreement. Brad ran over to the window and tried to open it. It was stuck with paint. He turned and picked up his mother’s vanity chair. "Turn your head!" he yelled as he heaved the chair through the window. The wood and glass splintered under the stress of the chair and flew into the yard. Brad picked a book from the nightstand and used it to remove the remaining shards of glass.
"Grab the bedspread," he ordered and Susan stumbled to pull it off the bed. Brad pushed it through the window. He could hear the sirens approaching. He hesitated for a moment trying to decide if he should wait for the fire department. A loud explosion from downstairs shook the house. He grabbed Susan’s arm and pushed her towards the open window.
"Slide down the bedspread," he directed.
Susan stared at him with terror in her eyes. "No! I can’t do that!"
"You have to Susie! Go! Go now!" he ordered. Tears streaked her face as she shakily grabbed the spread. "I’ll hold you. Don’t be afraid!"
She nodded and gathered her courage and climbed through the window, holding tightly to the spread. She eased herself over the windowsill and began her descent. She spun wildly as she made her way down. There was about a 10-foot drop from the end of the spread to the ground when she reached the end of the cloth, she took a deep breath and let go. She fell to the ground with a sickening thud, landing badly on her leg and she screamed out in pain. Brad was right behind her and plummeted by her side as the bedspread tore away from the window.
At that moment both vehicles from Station 51 pulled up in front of the fully involved residence. As Captain Stanley directed his crew to attack the fire, Gage and DeSoto ran to the two youth on the lawn beside the house. Susan was sobbing uncontrollably. Brad lay motionless beside her.
Johnny knelt beside the young girl. "Are you hurt anywhere, miss?" She nodded through her tears. "My leg," she sobbed. Then she grabbed Johnny’s turnout sleeve. He looked into her fear filled eyes. "Grandma," she whispered hoarsely and coughed fitfully.
"Your Grandma’s still in there?" Johnny asked to be sure. "Anyone else?"
She nodded again. "Jack. Upstairs." She motioned with her hand. Johnny looked over at Roy, who was checking out Brad for injuries.
"Roy, we still have people in there!"
Roy looked up at the fully involved house and acknowledged that he had heard. Johnny pulled out his HT and contacted the Captain. "Engine 51! Cap, we have at least two people still in the house! I think we’re going to have to enter through this upstairs bedroom. We need a ladder."
Stanley acknowledged. "Chet and Marco are on their way."
Johnny picked Susan up to move her away from the house and carried her by the squad. He gave her oxygen to breathe and told her to stay put. He grabbed the backboard and trotted back to Roy and the boy. Chet and Marco followed him with the ladder. As Chet and Marco set the ladder against the house, Roy and Johnny rolled Brad on the backboard and secured him with the straps. Johnny pulled his mask over his head and replaced his helmet and began to climb the ladder as Captain Stanley arrived. He and Marco picked up the backboard and moved Brad away from the building as Chet anchored the ladder. Roy followed Johnny into the beast.
The room was thick with smoke and even their flashlights failed to penetrate the density. Johnny found the door. He opened it cautiously. The red glow of flames flickered down the hall. Heat permeated from the floor.
"We gotta make this quick!" he yelled at Roy. Roy nodded with understanding. He could feel the heat through his boots as well. They began down the hall and began to check the rooms. Johnny went to the left and Roy to the right.
In the grandmother’s bedroom, Johnny felt his way around the room. He found the woman lying at the far side of the bed. He scooped her up in his arms and turned back around to leave the bedroom. He almost collided with Roy and his victim in the hall. They both ran for the master bedroom and their escape. Marco was waiting for Johnny at the opening. He handed the woman out to him. He put her over his shoulder and then made his way down the ladder. Johnny stepped out onto the ladder next and received Jack from Roy.
Roy knew they were close to a flash over and waited impatiently as Johnny moved down towards the ground. As soon as he felt it was safe, he climbed out on the ladder. Johnny had barely reached the ground when another blast rocked the house, knocking the ladder out and away. Roy jumped to the side as he felt the blast move the ladder. He sprawled on the ground as he landed face down. The impact knocked the wind out of him and he lay still.
Both Johnny and Marco had carried their victims over to the squad but Chet had seen Roy fall to the ground. Chet rushed to Roy’s side and removed this SCBA tank and mask as he turned him over. Roy gasped for air and tried to sit up.
"Whoa there, buddy." Chet ordered as he tried to restrain Roy. Roy shook him off.
"No, I’m all right," he declared. "Just had the wind knocked out of me. I’m okay."
Chet helped him to his feet and followed him back to the squad, keeping an eye on his friend just in case he wasn’t as all right as he thought.
Marco and Tim Jacobs, a firefighter from Engine 36, had placed oxygen masks on the grandmother and the other boy. Brad was now semi-conscious and moaned in pain. Susan was crying silently and whimpering for her mother. Suddenly a piercing scream from the far side of the house could be heard. Johnny and Roy looked up to see a distraught woman and a man running towards them. The Captain intercepted them and after a few words led them over to the paramedics.
"Gage. DeSoto. This is Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. The parents." He didn’t need to say anything more. Elaine fell to her knees sobbing.
"Oh, my babies. My babies." Then she looked over at her mother. "Oh, Mama!"
"Now you need to let my men do their work, ma’am," the Cap said gently as he held her back. Mr. Anderson put a comforting arm around her shoulders. His face showed his bewilderment. He couldn’t comprehend all that had happened. They had only been gone about an hour.
Johnny set up the bio-phone and contacted Rampart. Susan had a broken left femur and was suffering from smoke inhalation. Brad’s back was broken and had numerous cuts and contusions. When they went to the grandmother and the other boy, they found no pulse. They began CPR and all four patients were transported to Rampart. Roy rode in with Brad and Jack, while Johnny took Susan and her grandmother. Susan cried as she watched Johnny continue CPR on her grandmother.
A flurry of activity ensued at their arrival at the hospital. Susan was rushed into Treatment One while her brother was sent into Three. Jack and the grandmother went to rooms Two and Four.
A brief time later, both Jack and the grandmother were pronounced dead. Roy and Johnny wearily made their way down to the staff lounge and fixed themselves coffee. The Anderson house had been a total loss. The parents now sat worriedly in the waiting room, awaiting the arrival of Jack’s parents. As Roy and Johnny headed for the squad, Mr. Anderson approached them and thanked them for all that they had done.
They accepted his gratitude with mixed feelings. They felt terrible that they hadn’t been in time to help the grandmother and Jack.
"We’re so sorry for your loss," Roy told him. Mr. Anderson returned a tight nod, trying to keep his emotions in check. He turned and slowly made his way back to his wife. He was so bewildered as to what could have happened.
The drive back to the station was a quiet one. Roy backed the squad into its place in the empty truck bay and killed the engine. Johnny turned his eyes to his right and sighed.
"I wonder if they’re still at the house?" he commented to Roy.
"Could be. There’d be a lot of clean up to do."
"Yeah." Johnny opened his door and stretched as he stood up. He looked over at Roy as he exited the vehicle.
"You feeling okay?" he asked realizing that he hadn’t taken the opportunity earlier. Roy rubbed his chest and nodded.
"Just a little sore. Nothing major. How about we turn in? I don’t know about you but I’m beat."
"Hey, just let me get a shower and I’m there!" Johnny grinned at this partner. "I’m first!" He called as he made his way to the locker room. Roy just smiled as he followed him. While Johnny took his shower, Roy prepared his turnout gear by his bed then he crossed over to the kitchen in search of a glass of milk. As he took his first sip, he heard the sound of the diesel engine being back into the bay. He could hear the weary chatter of his crewmates as they climbed down from the rig. He walked into the bay and greeted his friends.
Chet took one look at Roy and then glanced at the locker room. He rolled his eyes in disgust.
"Oh, man! Don’t tell me Gage is in the shower!" he complained.
"Yup. And I’m next," Roy stated plainly.
"Well, just don’t use all the hot water!" he demanded as he turned and headed for the kitchen.
The bay doors had barely closed then the klaxon sounded again. The engine crew groaned as they listened. "Station 36, Engine 51. Motel fire. The Oasis. 1044 West Cordova Avenue. Ten Four Four West Cordova. Cross street Vinings. Time out 23:54."
"Engine 51. KMG365," Stanley acknowledged as the crew reclaimed their places aboard the big rig. They pulled out into the night as Johnny stuck his head out the locker room door.
"Was that for us?" he asked wiping his damp hair with a towel.
"No. Not this time. You done?" Roy figured he had better get his shower while he could.
"It’s all yours," Johnny replied as he disappeared behind the door.
By the time Roy made his way to his bed in the dorm, Johnny was already asleep with his arm flung across his eyes. Roy chuckled to himself and settled himself into his bunk. However, sleep was determined to escape him as his mind relived the last run. After awhile he finally fell into a fitful slumber.
###
Engine 51 approached the Oasis Motel from the west and pulled up behind Engineer 36. Captain Daniel Deacon was directing his crew and sent Stanley’s crew in to assist. It was a small establishment -- only twenty units. The building was a total loss, but fortunately there were no injuries. Residents of the motel remained in huddled groups across the road. The fire was knocked down fairly fast. As they were doing the mopping up, Marco noticed a young couple, wrapped in a couple of blankets, clinging to each other. The young man was trying to comfort the young woman. She cried into his chest. He approached them quietly.
"Are you two okay?" he asked as he neared them.
"Well, if you consider we got out alive, yeah." He answered raggedly. "We just got married today...er...yesterday."
"Anything I can do for you?" Marco asked with genuine concern.
"Oh, Danny, my necklace! I lost my necklace!" the young bride wailed. Her husband whispered comforting words to her.
"What did it look like?" Marco wanted to know.
"What?" The husband seemed confused.
"What did her necklace look like? I’m going to be cleaning up in there. Where was your room? I’ll look for it," Marco promised.
The young bride looked up, disbelief in her eyes. "Really?"
"I’ll try," Marco promised again.
"We were in Room 6. It’s a gold crucifix inside an open heart on a chain," the young woman explained. "It was my wedding present from my husband."
Marco nodded and headed back to his work. The young couple turned and walked up to a Red Cross representative who was arranging for places for the displaced residents to spend the night. As he walked up to the smoldering ruins he passed a small car that was also a casualty of the fire. He could just make out the words "Just Married." Maybe he would be lucky and restore a treasure to the young newlyweds.
He was sifting through the smoke and ashes of fire with his rake. His eyes continued to scan the debris.
"Hey Marco. You about ready to finish up?" Chet called across the parking lot. Marco held up his hand. He really didn’t want to give up. The glow from the parking lights cast a strange shadow across the charred timber. He decided to give it one more sweep.
He studied the room and tried to picture what it had looked like when it held a bed, dresser, TV and so on. He moved over to the remaining wall and ran the fingers of his glove through a pile of debris. He felt his finger catch on something. Eagerly he pulled up on the item and brought forth what remained of a lamp cord. Disappointed he threw it back into the ashes. He moved over about five feet and felt again through the ruins. Again he felt a catch and prayed that this time it wouldn’t be an electrical cord. He pulled up a little felt the object tug against his fingers. He grabbed the object between his thumb and forefinger. With his gloves on it was hard to determine what it was. Again he pulled and the object was released from its prison, rising easily into the light. It glistened in his hand—a small gold chain with a heart shaped pendant and crucifix. Marco grinned as he stood up. He made his way out of the ruins with his prize.
"Come on, Marco. Let’s go!" Chet insisted. Marco jogged up to the engine.
"Hey, Cap," Marco called. Stanley looked down at his man from the passenger seat of the rig. He was so tired and wanted to get some sleep.
"What is it, Lopez?"
"I need to drop this off at the other motel," Marco explained holding up the chain. Stanley looked at the chain. He didn’t even want to ask at the moment. He waved his hand in permission.
"Just hurry it up."
Marco flashed a grin. "Thanks, Cap. This’ll only take a minute," he promised and ran up the street to the motel that most of the guests had been relocated to. He entered the office and found the manager. It was then that he realized he didn’t know the name of the young couple. The manager gave him a dull stare.
"I’m sorry. They’re a young couple. Newlyweds. I think his first name was Danny," Marco explained.
"Real young?" the manager asked. Marco nodded. "That’s probably the Martins. They’re in room 18."
"Thanks." Marco hurried to the back of the motel and found the room. He lightly rapped on the door.
"Who is it?" Danny Martin asked through the closed door.
"Firefighter Lopez." The door cracked open, then upon seeing Marco, he opened it completely.
"Yes, what is it?"
"Is this what your wife lost?" he asked breathlessly as he held up the necklace. The young man’s face lit up with recognition.
"Yes! Yes, that’s it. You found it! Marie, the fireman found your necklace," he exclaimed as he turned to his bride. Marco could see her sitting on the bed, under the covers. He felt embarrassed that perhaps he had interrupted the young couple. He blushed slightly and turned his head.
"Oh, Danny that’s wonderful! Thank you, sir, so much!" Her eyes glowed with such gratitude.
"Think nothing of it," Marco responded. "Glad I could help."
He flashed them another happy grin as the young man took his hand once more to thank him. He turned and hurried back to the engine. His step felt much lighter as he climbed into his seat. Mike turned the rig into traffic and headed back to the station. Marco grinned across to Chet in the dark. The look on the young woman’s face would stay with him for a long time to come.
END
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